Friday, May 21, 2010

Remedy

“When evening had come, they brought to Him (Jesus) many who ere demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “he himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Mathew 8:16-17).

There are two kinds of healing in this passage, casting out demons and healing the sick. They are not one and the same. But neither can resist the command of our Lord.

Mathew refers to Isaiah 53, ‘”But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

We all deserve to remain in our unhealthy state, living with the consequences of our poor decisions and our rebellion against God. But God has had compassion on us and took our punishment upon himself so that we could be set free. What Jesus did for them then, he is doing for us today.